We Are Gathered Here Today…

Merrill grabbed Tomas by the front of his jacket and lifted him from the floor. Tomas’s boots kicked uselessly several inches above the concrete.

Across the hangar, Sagen shoved the last of the girls toward the military transport truck.

“Move.”

They moved.

Twelve girls chained together, their wrists bound in front of them. Some stumbled as they climbed the metal ramp. One nearly fell, and Sagen caught her arm.

Not gently.

Tomas twisted in Merrill’s grip.

“What are you doing?”

Sagen didn’t look back. “Cleaning up your mother’s mess.”

The last girl disappeared into the truck.

Sagen raised the ramp and slammed the doors. The metal crash echoed through the hangar.

Only then did he turn.

“You know,” he said, walking toward Tomas, “this wasn’t how it was supposed to happen.”

“You’re working for Kincaid.”

Sagen smiled. “Kid, everyone in Twin River works for Kincaid somehow. Most just haven’t realized it yet.”

Merrill tightened his grip.

Sagen stopped in front of Tomas.

“Your mother moves things. Guns. Cars. Drugs. Stolen property. People who need to disappear. She’s good at it too.”

“She was better than you’ll ever be.”

Sagen’s smile tightened.

“Maybe. But Kay always had rules.”

He glanced toward the transport truck.

“Men like Kincaid don’t.”

“You’re selling those girls.”

“I’m completing a delivery.”

“And my mom?”

“She had her chance.”

Thunder rolled across the airfield.

“Kincaid is on his way,” Sagen continued. “He expects his merchandise.”

“They aren’t merchandise.”

“Tell him that.”

Tomas glared at Merrill.

“You killed the horses.”

Merrill’s grin widened.

Sagen lifted one shoulder.

“Kincaid gave the order. Merrill carried it out.”

“Thoroughly,” Merrill said.

Tomas lunged against him.

Merrill shook him once, hard enough to snap his teeth together.

“Easy, little man.”

“Kay was supposed to understand the warning,” Sagen said. “Instead, she moved everyone out here and started looking for a way to get the girls beyond Kincaid’s reach.”

“The pilots.”

“She was going to use Kincaid’s own plane. Fly the girls somewhere safe before he realized what happened.”

Tomas looked toward the two bodies behind the crates.

Sagen followed his gaze.

“The pilots wouldn’t cooperate.”

“So you murdered them.”

“They were loyal to Kincaid. That made them a problem.”

“You’re going to kill my mom too.”

Sagen sighed.

“I always liked you, kid.”

“Lucky me.”

“But business is business.”

He nodded to Merrill.

“Put him down.”

Merrill dropped Tomas.

The impact knocked the air from his lungs.

Courtney lay several feet away, her wrists secured behind her with a plastic tie. Merrill rolled Tomas onto his stomach and bound his wrists with duct tape. Another thick layer went around his ankles.

When Merrill finished, he picked up Red.

The bookbag’s straps jerked.

Merrill nearly dropped him.

“What the hell?”

Red’s zipper opened.

You smell like wet livestock.

Merrill stared at the bag.

Tomas couldn’t tell how much the man had heard. His face said enough.

Merrill carried Red to a metal support pole and wrapped duct tape around him.

One layer.

Then another.

Then six more.

Sagen glanced over his shoulder. “Did you just tie up a bookbag?”

“The kid whispers to it.”

“So?”

“It moves.”

Sagen laughed. “Congratulations. You kidnapped a backpack.”

Merrill added another layer of tape.

“Thing gives me the creeps.”

Sagen checked his pistol.

“Stay here. Watch them and the truck.”

“Where are you going?”

“Someone has to inform Kay about the change in management.”

Sagen looked toward the transport truck one last time.

“Kincaid will be here soon. Have everything ready.”

The office door slammed behind him.

Rain hammered the metal roof.

Merrill cracked his knuckles and turned toward Tomas, Courtney, and the bookbag taped to the pole.

“Now,” he said, “let’s talk about Red.”

Tomas said nothing.

Merrill crouched beside him.

“What’s inside it?”

“Books.”

“I’ve seen books before. They don’t insult me.”

“You’ve probably never read one.”

Merrill slapped Tomas across the face.

Courtney jerked against her restraints.

“Touch him again—”

“You’ll what?”

Merrill stood and walked toward Red.

“Let’s find out what the little freak keeps in here.”

Red’s zipper twitched.

Merrill stopped.

The zipper opened half an inch.

Something scratched against the inside of the canvas.

Merrill took a step backward.

“You got an animal in there?”

The scratching stopped.

Silence filled the hangar.

Then the zipper slowly opened.

One purple stone rose through the opening.

Another followed.

Then another.

Merrill stared.

All twelve stones floated out of the bookbag.

The instant the final stone left, Red collapsed against the pole.

Nothing more than canvas, zippers, and straps.

The stones hovered in a loose circle.

Their violet glow reflected across Merrill’s face.

“What kind of voodoo is this?”

The stones pulsed.

Expanded.

Shifted.

One stretched into a small arm. Another formed a leg. Others snapped together, creating a narrow chest, a second arm, feet, hands, and a smooth stone head.

The final stone locked into place with a sharp click.

A small purple figure dropped onto the concrete.

It stood no higher than Merrill’s knee.

Courtney stared.

“I’ve heard about that,” she whispered.

Tomas looked at her. “What is it?”

“A remembered form.”

“You’ve seen one before?”

“Never.”

The stone creature stretched its arms.

Then it looked up at Merrill and waved.

Merrill took another step back.

“Nope.”

He turned toward the office.

The stone creature moved.

Fast.

It separated into twelve spinning stones and shot across the floor. Before Merrill reached the door, the stones snapped together directly in front of him.

Merrill tried to stop.

The creature caught one of his boots with both small hands.

For something barely two feet tall, it was impossibly strong.

It twisted.

Merrill’s leg shot sideways.

He crashed onto his back hard enough to shake the floor.

The creature jumped onto his chest.

Merrill swung one massive fist.

The figure burst apart.

His fist struck concrete.

The stones reformed behind his head.

Before Merrill could roll over, the little creature grabbed the loose coil of rope from the floor and raced around him.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The rope wrapped around Merrill’s ankles.

He kicked at the creature.

It separated again, avoiding the blow, then reassembled beside his shoulder. Both stone hands caught his wrist and yanked it behind his back.

Merrill shouted.

The second wrist followed.

The creature wrapped the remaining rope around his hands and pulled the knot tight.

Merrill strained against it.

Nothing moved.

The stone creature stepped onto the middle of his back and patted his head.

Merrill swore into the concrete.

Tomas tried not to laugh.

He failed.

The creature walked to Tomas and peeled the tape from his wrists with quick, precise fingers. Then it freed his ankles.

Courtney was next.

Once her hands were loose, she rubbed her wrists and stared at the tiny figure.

“That form was lost.”

The creature tilted its head.

Cracks of pink light appeared beneath its purple surface.

Its glow dimmed.

The figure swayed.

Then its body separated into twelve stones.

They floated unsteadily toward Red and slipped through his open zipper one by one.

The moment the final stone entered, Red’s straps tightened.

His zipper pulled itself halfway closed.

Different world, he said weakly. Different rules.

Tomas lifted him from the pole.

“You okay?”

That was expensive.

Several of the stones had faded toward pink around their edges.

Courtney touched the front of the bag.

“You shouldn’t try that again.”

I wasn’t planning to.

Behind them, Merrill grunted.

He had managed to roll onto his side, but his bound hands and feet left him rocking helplessly on the concrete.

He looks comfortable.

Tomas slung Red over his shoulder.

A pounding came from inside the transport truck.

The girls.

Courtney hurried to the doors.

“Keys.”

Tomas searched Merrill’s pockets and found a heavy ring clipped to his belt. He tossed it to her.

Courtney unlocked the doors.

The girls recoiled when the ramp began lowering.

“It’s okay,” Courtney said. “We’re getting you out.”

Tomas looked toward the office door Sagen had used.

“My mom is in the other hangar.”

“Go.”

“What about you?”

Courtney climbed into the transport truck and unlocked the chain connecting the girls.

“I’m staying with them.”

“Kincaid’s coming.”

“That’s why they can’t be here when he arrives.”

“There are twelve of them.”

Courtney looked at him.

“I can count.”

“How are you going to get them out?”

“Ancient Keeper secret.”

Tomas stared at her.

Courtney sighed. “There’s a drainage road beyond the fuel sheds. It runs behind the terminal and into the woods. Now go help your mother.”

Tomas pulled out both phones.

He opened Bryce’s burner and found a number marked B.H.

He sent a message from his own phone.

I have your burner. Twin River airport. Come alone. If you don’t show, I give it to Sheriff Rook.

Red shifted weakly on his shoulder.

You’re inviting Bryce?

“He wanted his phone.”

You are rescuing your mother, evading Kincaid, fighting the Collector, and scheduling a meeting with your school bully.

“I like to stay busy.”

Tomas used the burner to call the sheriff’s department.

A dispatcher answered.

“Twin River County Sheriff’s Office.”

“There are kidnapped girls at the abandoned airport,” Tomas said. “Armed men are coming for them. Kincaid is involved.”

“Who is this?”

Tomas ended the call.

Courtney stared at him.

“You called the police?”

“They’ll get here eventually.”

“That’s your plan?”

“Part of it.”

“What’s the rest?”

Tomas looked toward the storm.

The Collector was out there.

He could feel it moving closer.

“I’m still working on that.”

Moron.

Tomas helped the first girl down from the truck.

Once Courtney had all twelve gathered around her, he climbed behind the wheel. The rear compartment stood empty.

Red settled into the passenger seat.

Tomas found the ignition switch and turned it.

The engine roared to life.

You know how to drive this?

“No.”

Red’s zipper opened slightly.

Wonderful.

Kay stood in the center of the main hangar with her pistol aimed at Sagen’s chest.

“You should have stayed in Florida.”

Sagen smiled. “I would’ve. Then you decided to throw away the biggest opportunity Kincaid ever gave us.”

“They’re children.”

“They’re cargo.”

Kay’s finger tightened against the trigger.

“Where are they?”

“Loaded and ready.”

“You son of a bitch.”

“I told you that your rules would catch up with you.”

“You never told me anything. You smiled, took my money, and waited for a chance to steal my crew.”

“Our crew.”

“You don’t have a crew.”

“Not yet.”

The side doors burst open.

José entered first, followed by Eljen, Marleen, and Berezina. Rainwater streamed from their clothes. Each had a weapon in hand.

They stopped when they saw Kay and Sagen.

José raised his pistol.

“What did we miss?”

“Sagen made a career decision,” Kay said.

Eljen aimed at him. “Bad one.”

Sagen didn’t lower his gun.

“There are more of us than you think.”

“Then they can die with you,” Marleen said.

A door creaked open on the opposite side of the hangar.

“Hello?”

Everyone turned.

A teenage boy stood in the doorway, soaked from head to toe. Wet hair clung to his forehead.

Bryce Hale raised one hand awkwardly.

“Hi.”

No one lowered a weapon.

Bryce looked at Kay.

Then Sagen.

Then the collection of armed ranch hands.

“I got a message from Tomas.”

Kay’s eyes narrowed. “Of course you did.”

“He said he had something of mine.”

“What?”

“Nothing important.”

Eljen looked at the guns, then at Bryce.

“You walked into an abandoned airport during a hurricane because Tomas has something that isn’t important?”

Bryce swallowed.

“It’s complicated.”

Headlights cut through the rain outside.

One pair.

Then another.

A convoy of black SUVs rolled onto the tarmac.

Bryce looked over his shoulder.

“What’s that?”

Kay’s pistol remained trained on Sagen.

“Complicated.”

The SUVs stopped outside the hangar.

Doors opened.

Armed men stepped into the rain.

Hard men.

Professional men.

At their center walked Kincaid.

He was tall, controlled, and dressed in an expensive coat that darkened beneath the rain. Two men followed him, half-dragging Soren between them.

Soren’s face was bruised. One eye had swollen nearly shut.

Kincaid entered the hangar and surveyed the room.

Kay’s people.

Sagen.

Bryce.

The guns.

“So,” he said. “This is where the party moved.”

His gaze settled on Kay.

“I always admired that quaint little farm.”

“You had my horses killed.”

“I gave you an opportunity to reconsider.”

“They were animals.”

“They were valuable to you.”

Kincaid looked at Sagen.

“And where is my delivery?”

Sagen straightened slightly.

“Secured in the second hangar.”

“You checked?”

“Merrill is with it.”

Kincaid’s expression didn’t change, but something about his silence made Sagen shift his weight.

Kay nodded toward Soren.

“Why is he here?”

One of Kincaid’s men shoved Soren forward.

Soren straightened his jacket as though the shove had never happened.

“You remember Bentley and Corvetta?”

“Yes.”

“They were supposed to solve a financial problem for me.”

Kincaid finally looked at him.

“My financial problem.”

Soren nodded stiffly.

“Mr. Kincaid’s money.”

“And instead?” Kay asked.

“They robbed the armored truck and disappeared with everything.”

Despite the guns pointed at her, Kay almost smiled.

“Mercedes would be proud.”

Soren’s face twisted.

“I had expenses. Commitments.”

“You owed Kincaid money you didn’t have.”

“I was going to have it.”

Kincaid’s gaze remained on Soren.

“You don’t.”

“No.”

“So you made him a deal,” Kay said.

Soren looked at her.

“I get Tomas.”

Kay’s expression emptied.

“To replace the twins,” Soren continued. “He’s already shown he can do the work.”

“You used him.”

“I introduced him to the family business.”

“Over my dead body.”

Sagen chuckled.

“That can be arranged.”

Kay’s gun moved toward him.

Every weapon in the hangar shifted.

Bryce slowly raised both hands.

“I feel like I came at a bad time.”

Kincaid’s men spread through the hangar, surrounding Kay’s crew. José and Eljen moved closer to her. Berezina took position behind an overturned table.

No one fired.

There were too many guns and too few safe directions.

One wrong movement would kill everyone.

Then an engine roared outside.

Sagen frowned.

The sound grew louder.

Closer.

Everyone turned toward the main doors.

The military transport truck burst through them.

Metal screamed.

The doors folded inward as the truck plowed into the hangar. It crushed the empty folding tables, scattering plates, lanterns, and Berezina’s dinner across the concrete.

The truck skidded sideways and stopped.

Steam curled from its battered hood.

For several seconds, no one moved.

Then the driver’s door opened.

Tomas climbed down with Red on his back.

He looked around.

His mother.

Sagen.

Kincaid.

Soren.

Bryce.

More guns than he had ever seen in one room.

This was better than his plan.

That probably meant it was worse.

“Bryce,” Tomas said. “You came.”

Bryce stared at him. “You threatened to give my phone to the police.”

“Motivation works.”

Sagen looked at the transport truck.

His face changed.

“Where are the girls?”

Tomas glanced toward the empty rear compartment.

“Not here.”

Kincaid turned slowly toward Sagen.

“You said the delivery was secured.”

“It was.”

“Merrill had them.”

“He still might,” Tomas said. “He’s having trouble getting around.”

Sagen raised his pistol toward Tomas.

Kay moved hers toward Sagen.

Soren stepped forward.

“Tomas.”

Tomas looked at him.

“Dad.”

The word made Soren smile.

It made Kay flinch.

Soren held out one hand.

“Come here.”

“No.”

“You don’t understand what’s happening.”

“I understand more than I did yesterday.”

Kincaid studied Tomas.

“This is the boy?”

Soren nodded.

“He has potential.”

“I’m standing right here,” Tomas said.

Kay’s voice cut through the room.

“Tomas, what did you do?”

He looked at her.

Fear had replaced the cruelty in her face.

He should have been terrified too.

Part of him was.

Another part remembered the High Striker bell.

The armored truck.

Merrill hitting the concrete.

The little girl breathing again.

He had survived everything that was supposed to prove he was weak.

That feeling wasn’t evidence.

It wasn’t wisdom.

It wasn’t even a complete plan.

It was fifteen-year-old certainty, bright and reckless and impossible to reason with.

He believed he could win.

For the moment, that was enough.

“This is the part where everyone helps,” he said.

“Helps with what?” Bryce asked.

Tomas stepped away from the truck.

Several weapons followed him.

Red tightened his straps around Tomas’s shoulders.

You have not thought this through.

“Not even a little.”

He looked at the criminals surrounding him.

Kincaid’s men.

Sagen.

Soren.

People who had spent their lives teaching everyone else to be afraid.

“You all think you’re the worst thing in this room.”

The lights flickered.

Tomas spread his hands.

“You’re not even close.”

Kay’s face changed.

“Tomas, don’t.”

He lifted his head toward the shadows beneath the ceiling.

“Collector!”

Nothing happened.

Rain hammered the roof.

Soren glanced at Kincaid.

Bryce whispered, “Who’s the Collector?”

Then the darkness moved.

Black tendrils slid from the four corners of the hangar.

They crept across the walls and poured over the beams, twisting together above the gathered men.

The storm pressed against the building.

Metal groaned.

The smoke gathered beneath the ceiling.

It chose a shape designed to make human beings understand fear.

Wings unfolded through the darkness.

Claws curled around the rafters.

A long body coiled above them.

It wasn’t a dragon.

It merely wore the idea of one.

Hollow eyes opened inside the smoke.

Even Kincaid stepped backward.

Tomas stared upward.

For one terrible second, he understood that confidence and control were not the same thing.

One of Kincaid’s men fired.

The bullet disappeared into the shadow.

Another man fired.

Then everyone did.

The hangar erupted.

And the Collector opened its mouth.